2019 Toronto Defiant season, Regular season, Stage 3
In the last week of the stage, the Defiant headed to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta to play at the "Atlanta Reign Homestand Weekend". Their first match at the homestand was against the Atlanta Reign on July 6. After losing the first map, Toronto was able to take the second map to enter halftime tied 1–1. The third map, Eichenwalde, was completed by both teams, but the Reign took the win in overtime rounds; Toronto would drop map four as well to lose the series 1–3. The next day, Toronto took on the New York Excelsior. The team found little success throughout the match and were swept 0–4. The loss ended Toronto's Stage 3 without a win.


2019 Toronto Defiant season, Regular season, Stage 4
The Defiant's first match of Stage 4, along with the first match with an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the League, was against the Washington Justice on July 26; Toronto lost the match by a 1–3 scoreline. Two days later, the team took on the London Spitfire. Toronto took the first map, but London rolled through Toronto in the following three maps, as the Defiant lost the match 1–3.


2019 Toronto Defiant season, Regular season, Stage 4
Toronto's next match was against the Stage 3 Champions Shanghai Dragons on August 1. DPS Logix's effective performances on Widowmaker and McCree carried the team to a 2–1 victory over the Dragons and snapped the team's nine-game losing streak. The Defiant faced the Philadelphia Fusion three days later, but the team was unable to scrim due to an upper-management decision to send Daniel "Gods" Graeser and Go "Aid" Jae-yoon to a media event in Toronto. Toronto lost the match against Philadelphia in a five-map series by a score of 2–3; the loss officially eliminated the Defiant from postseason contention.


2019 Toronto Defiant season, Regular season, Stage 4
Following the loss, on August 7, the Defiant released head coach Lee "Bishop" Beom-joon and announced that assistant coach Matthew "Optidox" Sims, assistant coach Shim "Mobydik" Seung-bo, and analyst Dennis "Barroi" Matz would be taking on the role of head coaches by committee for the remainder of the season.


2019 Toronto Defiant season, Regular season, Stage 4
The following day, the team faced first the Florida Mayhem. The Defiant took the first map, but the Mayhem strung together three straight map wins to hand Toronto a 1–3 loss. Two days later, Toronto took on the Seoul Dynasty. While the team was able to force a draw on map two and win map four, losses on maps one and three gave the team a 1–2 loss.


2019 Toronto Defiant season, Regular season, Stage 4
Toronto's final match of the season was against the Florida Mayhem on August 18 in a match that had no postseason implications. The Defiant were unable to win a map in the series, getting swept 0–4 to close out the season in 17th place with a 8–20 record.


2019 Toronto Defiant season, Final roster, Transactions
Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2019 regular season:


2019 Toronto FC II season
The 2019 Toronto FC II season was the fifth season in the club's history. Having previously competed in the United Soccer League (since rebranded as the USL Championship), this was the club's first season in USL League One, the third tier of professional soccer in the United States.


2019 Toronto FC II season, Current roster
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Squad correct as of April 27, 2019.


2019 Toronto FC season
The 2019 Toronto FC season was the 13th season in the history of Toronto FC.


2019 Toronto FC season, Season, Pre-season
Gregory van der Wiel was sent home from the club's pre-season camp in California after "an altercation with manager Greg Vanney".


2019 Toronto FC season, Squad, International roster slots
Toronto has seven MLS International Roster Slots for use in the 2019 season. They traded one International Spot to Columbus until the end of 2019.


2019 Toronto FC season, Transfers, In, Draft picks
Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in.


2019 Toronto International Film Festival
The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 44th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held from 5 to 15 September 2019. The opening gala was the documentary film Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band, directed by Daniel Roher, and the festival closed with a screening of the biographical film Radioactive, directed by Marjane Satrapi.


2019 Toronto International Film Festival, Awards
In addition to its regular film awards, whose winners were announced at the conclusion of the festival, the festival announced in advance that Meryl Streep would be the inaugural recipient of the TIFF Tribute Actor Award, a new lifetime achievement award to honour distinguished work in film acting.


2019 Toronto International Film Festival, Awards
The first award recipients were announced on September 12, with the major awards announced at the close of the festival on September 15. In light of the fact that international filmmakers are rarely still in Toronto to accept their awards in person by the end of the festival, the organizers opted to cancel the traditional awards ceremony, and instead announced the award winners through TIFF's social media.


2019 Toronto International Film Festival, Awards
Nicolas Cage was awarded with the Creative Coalition's Spotlight Initiative Award for his role in Color Out of Space.


2019 Toronto Rock season
The Toronto Rock are a lacrosse team based in Toronto playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2019 season is the 22nd in franchise history, and 21st as the Rock.


2019 Toronto Rock season, Regular season, Final standings
x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games PlayedW: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowedDifferential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game


2019 Toronto Wolfpack season
This article details the Toronto Wolfpack's rugby league football club's 2019 season. This is the Wolfpack's third season overall and second season in the RFL Championship.


2019 Toronto Wolfpack season, Milestones
Former Leeds Rhinos coach Brian McDermott has been named new Toronto Wolfpack head coach.


2019 Torridge District Council election
The 2019 Torridge Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect members of Torridge District Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. The whole council was up for election on new boundaries.


2019 Totnes bus crash
At 10:50 BST on 5 October 2019, a double-decker bus was involved in a single-vehicle collision on the A385 road at Berry Pomeroy, between Totnes and Paignton in Devon, England, in which the vehicle overturned at high speed. More than 50 people – including the driver – were injured, with 37 requiring hospitalisation. Eight passengers suffered injuries described as "serious", though there were no fatalities.


2019 Totnes bus crash
The bus, a 2013 Alexander Dennis Enviro400 bodied Scania N230UD double-decker operated by Stagecoach South West on Stagecoach Gold services, was operating a scheduled passenger service from Torquay to Plymouth when the driver lost control of the vehicle at a sharp bend on the rural A385 single-carriageway road. The bus mounted the unpaved verge on the outside of the bend, crashed through roadside hedgerows and subsequently came to rest on its side in an adjacent grass field.


2019 Totnes bus crash
On 12 July 2021, the driver of the bus, 19-year-old Kameron Allan, was convicted of driving without due care and attention; he received a twelve-month driving ban and a fine. Allan was cleared of the more serious initial charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. Additionally, Stagecoach South West were criticised for allowing Allan to drive the bus given his lack of experience with the vehicle and the route.


2019 Totnes bus crash, Incident
At the time of the incident, the bus was operating on the Stagecoach Gold service from Torquay to Plymouth, and it had just departed the town of Paignton with a full and standing load of passengers. Between there and the next major settlement, Totnes, the Gold route uses the rural A385 single-carriageway road. The speed limit on this section of road is 50 mph (80 km/h). The crash occurred at 10:50 local time, close to the village of Berry Pomeroy.


2019 Totnes bus crash, Incident
Travelling westbound along the A385, the bus driver, 19-year-old Kameron Allan, became distracted for around 18 seconds by his jacket flapping from the opened cab window of the bus. While Allan was distracted by attempts to retrieve these items, the bus left the road at a sharp left-hand bend in an area of open country. After mounting the grass verge and crashing through a hedgerow along the outside of the bend, the bus fell 5 ft (1.5 m) down an embankment, coming to rest on its side in a grassy field close to the road.


2019 Totnes bus crash, Incident
According to an eyewitness on board, the entire incident panned out during the space of only around five seconds, which started with the bus beginning to shake and several passengers screaming; there was then a change in momentum as the bus fell over onto the passenger side. Several passengers had to climb over unconscious bodies to escape from the wreckage.


2019 Totnes bus crash, Incident, Emergency response
Following the crash, Devon and Cornwall Police declared a major incident. Thirteen ambulances attended the scene by road, and four air ambulance helicopters were dispatched to the incident site to attend to the most severely injured passengers. More than 140 emergency services personnel attended the scene at the peak of the major incident, including firefighters who cut into the roof of the overturned bus to rescue passengers trapped inside the top deck. Out of the more than fifty people injured in the crash (including the bus driver), 37 people were taken to five different hospitals throughout Devon.


2019 Totnes bus crash, Incident, Emergency response
Eight people suffered serious injuries and had to be stretchered out of the top deck through holes cut into the roof; there were no fatalities. The accident occurred on a Saturday, and at several hospitals operated by the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, dozens of staff members were called in to work on their days off as a result of the major incident declaration. Accident and emergency departments at local hospitals were stretched to capacity, and the public were urged not to attend hospitals unless there was a real emergency.


2019 Totnes bus crash, Incident, Aftermath
Uninjured passengers were taken to Paignton bus station by road to continue their journeys or receive further support. A spokesperson for bus company Stagecoach South West confirmed that they were assisting the emergency services with their inquiries and that their thoughts were with the victims of the crash. Sarah Wollaston, the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Totnes, tweeted her thanks to the emergency services for their response to the incident.


2019 Totnes bus crash, Incident, Aftermath
The A385 road remained closed between Totnes and Paignton until 18:00 on the day of the crash to allow for emergency road repairs and an initial crime scene investigation to take place. The road was then closed again the following day for the vehicle recovery operation, during which the bus was righted using a roadside crane, winched onto the road and towed back to its home depot in Torquay for storage.


2019 Totnes bus crash, Subsequent developments, Charges and court case
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) launched an investigation into the bus crash alongside Devon and Cornwall Police. The driver of the bus, 19-year-old Kameron Allan, was subsequently charged with ten counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. A representative for the transport union RMT alleged that Allan had only passed his Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV) driving test three months prior to the crash, and that the journey during which the incident occurred was the first time he had driven this Stagecoach Gold service, raising questions of driver training and route familiarity at Stagecoach South West.


2019 Totnes bus crash, Subsequent developments, Charges and court case
The trial was delayed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, during which Allan was released on unconditional bail. At a preliminary hearing at Newton Abbot Magistrates Court on 16 September 2020, Allan pleaded not guilty to all ten charges. The case was subsequently sent to Plymouth Crown Court. A second preliminary hearing took place at the crown court on 19 October 2020, during which Allan again pleaded not guilty to all charges. A further preliminary hearing took place on 13 May 2021, with the final trial initinally scheduled to take place on 1 June 2021. On 29 May, the trial was delayed until 12 July.


2019 Totnes bus crash, Subsequent developments, Charges and court case
The trial at Plymouth Crown Court commenced on 12 July 2021. Allan admitted to losing control of the vehicle while dealing with the distraction of attempting to retrieve his jacket, which was flapping from the opened cab window of the bus. Allan told police in his first interview after the accident that he had worked for Stagecoach South West since September 2016, mainly as a mechanic and commercial officer. Allan was never employed by Stagecoach as a bus driver, although he did occasionally drive buses as a hobby. Stagecoach were subsequently criticised for allowing Allan to drive the bus with so little prior experience of both the vehicle type and the route.


2019 Totnes bus crash, Subsequent developments, Charges and court case
On the first day of the trial, Allan pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of a single count of driving without due care and attention. The court dropped the initial charge of ten counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, handing Allan a twelve-month driving ban and a £250 fine.


2019 Totnes bus crash, Subsequent developments, Bus company response
In November 2019, bus company Stagecoach South West denied that the long-term absence of two senior members of staff was related to the ongoing criminal investigation into the bus crash at Totnes. Later however, seven weeks after the crash, the company confirmed the departure of their managing director after 20 years in the role in order to find "new challenges" elsewhere.


2019 Totnes bus crash, Subsequent developments, Road safety improvements
In August 2020, following an internal investigation, Devon County Council installed reflective plastic bollards along the outside of the bend at which the bus crash occurred, which at the time had been an unprotected soft grass verge. Local residents and the transport union RMT criticised the safety measures, suggesting that they did not go far enough and that further accidents at the site were inevitable. The council defended the bollard installation, stating that they adequately highlighted a gap in the hedgerow which had not yet regrown following the bus crash as well as the steep drop down into the adjacent field.


2019 Tottori gubernatorial election
A gubernatorial election was held on 7 April 2019 to elect the next Governor of Tottori.


2019 Toulon Tournament
The 2019 Toulon Tournament (officially French: 47ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) was the 47th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 1 to 15 June 2019. England were the defending champions but they were eliminated in the group stage.


2019 Toulon Tournament
In this season the tournament was contested by under-22 national teams, although France, Portugal, England and Republic of Ireland played with their under-18, under-19, under-20 and under-21 teams, respectively.


2019 Toulon Tournament
Brazil won their ninth title by defeating Japan 5–4 in a penalty shoot-out in the final, after the match had finished in a 1–1 draw.


2019 Toulon Tournament, Participants
Twelve participating teams were announced in March and April 2019.


2019 Toulon Tournament, Venues
Initially, Stade Marcel Cerdan (Carnoux-en-Provence) would host the ninth-place and seventh-place playoffs but the matches originally to be played there would be moved to Stade d'Honneur (Mallemort) and Stade Parsemain (Fos-sur-Mer).


2019 Toulon Tournament, Matches rules
Every match consisted of two periods of 45 minutes each. In a match, every team had eleven named substitutes and the maximum number of substitutions permitted was four (a fifth substitution was allowed only for goalkeepers).


2019 Toulon Tournament, Matches rules
In the knockout stage, if a game tied at the end of regulation time, extra time would not be played and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner.


2019 Toulon Tournament, Group stage
The draw was held on 8 April 2019. The twelve teams were drawn into three groups of four. In the group stage, each group was played on a round-robin basis. The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, the following criteria would be used to determine the ranking: 1. Goal difference; 2. Goals scored; 3. Fair play points. The group winners and the best runners-up qualified for the semi-finals. The Group stage was played from 1 to 9 June 2019.


2019 Toulon Tournament, Classification matches
The eliminated teams played another game to determine their final ranking in the competition.


2019 Toulon Tournament, Statistics, Goalscorers
There were 74 goals scored in 26 matches, for an average of 2.85 goals per match.


2019 Toulon Tournament, Awards, Individual awards
After the final, the following players were rewarded for their performances during the competition.


2019 Toulon Tournament, Awards, Best XI
The best XI team was a squad consisting of the eleven most impressive players at the tournament.


2019 Toulon Tournament squads
The 2019 Toulon Tournament was an international association football tournament held in Bouches-du-Rhône, France. The twelve national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 22 players; only players in these squads were eligible to take part in the tournament.


2019 Toulon Tournament squads, Group A, England
Nathan Trott (West Ham United) and Easah Suliman (Aston Villa) were replaced by Ryan Schofield and Jamie Shackleton, respectively. Josh Dasilva was added after the original call-up.


2019 Toulon Tournament squads, Group A, England
Ryan Schofield, injured in the match against Portugal, was replaced by Nathan Bishop.


2019 Toulon Tournament squads, Group A, Portugal
Diogo Capitão (Benfica) and Rafael Camacho (Liverpool) were replaced by Samuel Costa and Bernardo Sousa, respectively.


2019 Toulon Tournament squads, Group A, Portugal
Celton Biai, injured in the match against Chile, was replaced by Francisco Meixedo.


2019 Toulon Tournament squads, Group B, Brazil
Luiz Felipe (Lazio), who withdrew injured, was replaced by Adryelson. CBF suspended, until the end of the tournament, Renan Lodi (Athletico Paranaense) and Rodrygo (Santos) after they were called-up and did not attend. They were replaced by Rogério and Paulinho, respectively. Gabriel and Thiago Maia (Lille) were released by CBF. They were replaced by Bruno Fuchs and Lucas Fernandes, respectively.


2019 Toulon Tournament squads, Group B, France
Lévi Kahamba Ntumba (Dijon) was replaced by Hugo Barbet. Bilal Benkhedim was added after the original call-up.


2019 Tour Challenge
The 2019 KIOTI TRACTOR Tour Challenge was held from November 5 to 10, at the Pictou County Wellness Centre in Westville Road, Nova Scotia. It was the second Grand Slam event of the 2019–20 season.


2019 Tour Challenge
In the men's tier 1 final, Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario defeated Brad Gushue of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador to win his 5th Grand Slam. In the tier 2 final, Korey Dropkin defeated Tanner Horgan to earn a spot at the 2020 Canadian Open in January.


2019 Tour Challenge
In the women's tier 1 final, Anna Hasselborg of Sundbyberg, Sweden defeated Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Manitoba to win her 3rd Grand Slam. In the tier 2 final, Kim Min-ji defeated Jestyn Murphy to earn a spot at the Canadian Open.


2019 Tour Challenge, Qualification
The Tour Challenge consists of two tiers. For the Tier 1, the top 15 teams on the World Curling Tour Order of Merit rankings as of October 1, 2019 are invited. In the event that a team declines their invitation, the next-ranked team on the order of merit is invited until the field is complete. For the Tier 2, 16 teams are invited including the next top ranked OOM teams and regional teams.


2019 Tour Challenge, Qualification, Men, Tier 1
Top Order of Merit men's teams as of October 1:


2019 Tour Challenge, Qualification, Women, Tier 1
Top Order of Merit women's teams as of October 1:


2019 Tour Championship
The 2019 Tour Championship was a professional snooker ranking tournament, held from 19 to 24 March 2019 in Llandudno, Wales. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, this was the first edition of the Tour Championship and the third and final event of the inaugural Coral Cup. It was the eighteenth ranking event of the 2018–19 snooker season.


2019 Tour Championship
The draw for the Tour Championship comprised the top eight players based on the single year ranking list, taking part in a single elimination tournament. Each match was played over a minimum of two sessions, the final as best-of-25-frames over two days. The winner of the tournament won £150,000 out of a total prize fund of £375,000. The event was sponsored by betting company Coral.


2019 Tour Championship
In a repeat of the Players Championship final two weeks prior, Ronnie O'Sullivan met Neil Robertson in the final. O'Sullivan won the match 13–11 to claim his 36th ranking title, equalling Stephen Hendry's record of ranking event wins. On winning the tournament, O'Sullivan returned to the world number one position for the first time since May 2010, ending Mark Selby's six-year reign as world number one, and won the Coral Cup. In regaining the ranking, he also became the oldest world number one since Ray Reardon in 1983. This was O'Sullivan's third ranking title win of the season, having won the UK Championship and the Players Championship earlier in the season.


2019 Tour Championship
The event featured 22 century breaks made by six players. The tournament's highest break prize of £5,000 was won by Robertson, scoring a break of 135 in frame 16 of his first round victory over Mark Selby.


2019 Tour Championship, Format
The 2019 Tour Championship was the third and final event in the 2019 Coral Cup series, first introduced in the 2018/2019 season, after the World Grand Prix and the Players Championship. The players qualified for the series by virtue of their placement on the one-year ranking list, rather than by world ranking. The event featured the top eight players from the one-year ranking list taking part in a single-elimination tournament. The Tour Championship was played from 19 to 24 March 2019 in Llandudno, Wales and organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.


2019 Tour Championship, Format
The Tour Championship was the first event since the 2010 UK Championship (and other than the World Championship) in which every match was played over multiple sessions, with two in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, and three sessions in the final. The best-of-25-frames final, held on 23 and 24 March, was the first non-World Championship match of this length or longer since the 1992 UK Championship final.


2019 Tour Championship, Format
The tournament was primarily broadcast by ITV4 in the United Kingdom. It also aired on Sky Sport in New Zealand, NowTV in Hong Kong, and Superstars Online in China. Eurosport did not broadcast the event, despite covering all but one of the other snooker tournaments this season. The event was sponsored by sports betting company Coral.


2019 Tour Championship, Format, Prize fund
The tournament was the first Tour Championship in this format. The event had a prize fund of £375,000 with the winner receiving £150,000. The breakdown of prize money for the event was as below:


2019 Tour Championship, Format, Prize fund
The "rolling 147 prize" for a maximum break stood at £15,000, but went unclaimed.


2019 Tour Championship, Format, Qualification
Qualification for the event was for the top eight players on the one-year ranking list up to and including the 2019 Gibraltar Open.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, First round
The first round was held from 19 to 20 March, all matches being played over two sessions as best-of-17-frames matches. Neil Robertson played Mark Selby in the opening match of the tournament. Robertson progressed into an early lead, taking the first two frames with breaks of 88 and 110. Selby then won six frames in a row, including three century breaks, to lead 6–2 after the first session.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, First round
Robertson won the first three frames of the second session, to reduce his deficit to 5–6. Selby missed the frame ball pink in frame 12, allowing Robertson to tie the match at 6–6. Robertson also took frame 13 to lead the match for the first time since frame two. Selby won frame 14 despite requiring three snookers, and also frame 15, to lead the match again at 8–7, before Robertson took the match to a decider with a break of 135. Frame 17 – the final frame of the match – lasted over an hour and went to the final black. After Selby attempted a double, Robertson potted the black ball to win the frame and match.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, First round
Reigning Masters champion Judd Trump drew reigning World champion Mark Williams in the second first round match. The pair were tied at 4–4 after the first session, but Williams won four of the next five frames to lead 8–5. Trump then completed a comeback and won the next four frames to come through another final frame decider. Post match, Trump commented that Williams "controlled" the match, but missed too many long pots towards the end of the match.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, First round
Ronnie O'Sullivan played Stuart Bingham in the third first round match. O'Sullivan took a lead of 6–2 after the first session of the match, before winning frame nine and a 45-minute frame ten to lead 8–2. Although Bingham replied by winning frame 11, O'Sullivan took frame 12 to win the match 9–3.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, First round
The fourth and final first round match was a repeat of the 2018 Masters final, with Mark Allen drawing Kyren Wilson. Allen took an early lead, finishing 6–2 after the initial session of the match, and increased his lead to 7–2 with a century. Wilson captured the next three frames, before Allen won frame 13 to lead 8–5. Wilson won the next two frames to trail 7–8, before losing his momentum in frame 16 allowing Allen to make a break of 71. The top four seeds all won their first round matches to progress to the semi-finals.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, Semi-finals
In the second round, which took place on 21 and 22 March, the four remaining players competed in two best-of-19-frames matches, each played over two sessions. The first semi-final was played on 21 March, between Judd Trump and Ronnie O'Sullivan. The pair were the highest two in the ranking list for the Coral Cup, both having won one of the previous two events in the Coral series: Trump winning the World Grand Prix, and O'Sullivan the Players Championship. This semi-final was a rematch of the season's Masters final, and the two players also met in the final of the 2018 Northern Ireland Open, Trump winning on both occasions.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, Semi-finals
Trump took the first frame in the opening session of the match with a break of 54, before O'Sullivan tied the score at one frame apiece. Trump won frames three and four to lead 3–1 at the interval. He also won frame five, before O'Sullivan made a century to trail by two frames. Trump took the remaining two frames of the session to lead 6–2.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, Semi-finals
O'Sullivan clinched the first two frames of the second session to reduce his deficit to 4–6, before Trump won two of the next three frames to lead 8–5. O'Sullivan won both frames 14 and 15 with two century breaks of 130 and 134 to trail 7–8, and won a tense frame 16 to tie the match. Trump won a scrappy frame 17 to lead again, before O'Sullivan won frame 18 to send the match into the final frame. In the decider, Trump secured the first chance, but his break ended at 50 points.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, Semi-finals
Despite a waistcoat foul on his previous shot, O'Sullivan was given another opportunity to clear the table, but he missed the final red near the cushion rail, allowing his opponent back on the table. Trump missed the match-winning yellow close to the cushion into the green pocket, which eventually allowed O'Sullivan to clear the table to complete the comeback on the final black ball.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, Semi-finals
The second semi-final was played on 22 March, between Mark Allen and Neil Robertson. Allen got off to a good start, winning the first two frames of the match including a break of 78. Robertson then won the next five frames, which included back-to-back centuries in frames four and five and a clearance of 69 in frame seven. Allen then captured the final frame of the session to trail 3–5.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, Semi-finals
The match's second session started with Robertson extending his lead to 6–3, but Allen won the next three frames with breaks of 82 and 103 to tie the match. Robertson then won the next three frames with a combined 303 points without reply. In frame 16, Allen scored enough points to take the frame to the "snookers required" stage, only to snooker himself on the final red behind the green ball, allowing Robertson to clear the table and win the match 10–6.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, Final
The final was played on 23 and 24 March, spread over three sessions in a best-of-25-frames match. The two contestants in the final were Ronnie O'Sullivan and Neil Robertson, who had also met in the final of the Players Championship two weeks prior. The winner of the match would also win the Coral Cup, awarded to the player who accumulates the most prize money over the three Coral tournaments.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, Final
The opening session of the match was played on the evening of 23 March. Robertson won the first two frames, and O'Sullivan the next two with breaks of 74 and 97 to tie the match 2–2 at the mid-session interval. O'Sullivan won the next three frames after the interval, with breaks of 71 and 67, to lead 5–2. Robertson made a frame-winning 48 break in the final frame of the session to trail by two frames overnight.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, Final
The second and third sessions were both played on 24 March. O'Sullivan extended his lead in frame nine with a century break, but then missed a frame ball pink in the next, allowing Robertson to win the frame to trail by two again. Robertson made a break of 106 to win frame 11, before O'Sullivan restored his two frame advantage, winning frame 12, to lead 7–5, and later 8–6. Robertson won both of the remaining two frames of the session to tie the match 8–8 heading into the final session.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, Final
O'Sullivan won the first frame of the evening session (frame 17) with a break of 129, before Robertson levelled the score at 9–9. They also shared the next two frames to tie the match at 10–10 leading into the interval. O'Sullivan pulled ahead to 12–10 in the next two frames. In frame 23, Robertson accidentally knocked a red into the pocket whilst opening the pack, but O'Sullivan scored only 16 points from the opportunity, which allowed Robertson to win the frame to trail 11–12.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, Final
Robertson also had the first chance in frame 24, making a break of 28, before missing a black ball from the spot allowing O'Sullivan to win the frame and tournament with a break of 89. This was the 36th ranking championship victory of O'Sullivan's career, equalling the record set by Stephen Hendry between 1987 and 2005.


2019 Tour Championship, Summary, Final
O'Sullivan reached world number one on winning the event, replacing Mark Selby who had held the position since February 2015. At the age of 43, O'Sullivan became the oldest snooker world number one since Ray Reardon in 1983. He also picked up the Coral Cup, having accrued a total of £280,000 over the three Coral events (and winning two). The closest challenger for the award, Judd Trump, had earned more than £100,000 less prize money over the same events.


2019 Tour Championship, Coral Cup
The 2018/2019 Snooker season introduced the Coral Cup series, featuring three events: the World Grand Prix, the Players Championship, and the Tour Championship. For all three events, qualification was based on players' rankings on the one-year ranking list. Ronnie O'Sullivan won the inaugural "Coral Cup", earning the highest amount of prize money overall across the series, however unlike later seasons he did not earn a monetary bonus. The top ten players with the most prize money won in total over the three events is shown below:


2019 Tour Championship, Century breaks
The event featured a total of 22 century breaks. The highest break of 135 was compiled by Neil Robertson in his opening round match against Mark Selby.


2019 Tour Colombia
The 2019 Tour Colombia was a road cycling stage race that took place in Colombia between 12 and 17 February 2019. It was the second edition of the Tour Colombia, and was rated as a 2.1 event as part of the UCI America Tour. Miguel Angel Lopez won for Team Astana.


2019 Tour Colombia, Teams
Twenty-eight teams were invited to start the race. These included six UCI WorldTeams, 7 UCI Professional Continental teams, 12 UCI Continental teams and three national teams. Each team had a maximum of six riders:


2019 Tour Down Under
The 2019 Tour Down Under was a road cycling stage race, that took place between 15 and 20 January 2019 in and around Adelaide, South Australia. It was the 21st edition of the Tour Down Under and the first race of the 2019 UCI World Tour.


2019 Tour Down Under
For the first time in the race's 21-year history, the previous year's winner was able to defend their race title as Mitchelton–Scott's Daryl Impey from South Africa took the overall honours on the final day. Impey had trailed New Zealand's Patrick Bevin (CCC Team) by seven seconds going into the stage, finishing at Willunga Hill, but Bevin lost almost six minutes on the day, due to injuries suffered in a crash the previous day.


2019 Tour Down Under
Although Impey finished third on the stage to Australian Richie Porte of Trek–Segafredo – who won the Willunga stage for the sixth successive year – and Team Sky rider Wout Poels from the Netherlands, Impey won the general classification and the race's final ochre jersey by thirteen seconds from Porte, with Poels a further four seconds arrears (due to the bonus seconds on the finish line) in third place.


2019 Tour Down Under
Despite not winning the race overall, Bevin took the blue jersey awarded for the sprints classification. In the race's other classifications, UniSA–Australia rider Jason Lea led the mountains classification from the opening day to the finish, edging out Poels on countback, while Chris Hamilton, also from Australia, was the winner of the white jersey for the young rider classification for Team Sunweb, finishing in sixth place overall, after that particular jersey changed hands after every day of racing. The team classification was won by UAE Team Emirates, who led from the opening day onwards, with the team having one stage victory – earned by Jasper Philipsen, who was making his début with a UCI WorldTeam.


2019 Tour Down Under, Participating teams
As the Tour Down Under was a UCI World Tour event, all eighteen UCI WorldTeams were invited automatically and obliged to enter a team in the race. One other team was given a wildcard entry into the race: UniSA–Australia. Each team was due to enter seven riders, for a total of 133 participants.


2019 Tour Down Under, Participating teams
Among the field were six previous winners of the race, two of whom – Cameron Meyer, and defending champion Daryl Impey – were racing for the Mitchelton–Scott squad. Other previous winners in the field were Luis León Sánchez (Astana), Bahrain–Merida rider Rohan Dennis, Tom-Jelte Slagter of Team Dimension Data, and Trek–Segafredo's Richie Porte.


2019 Tour Down Under, Participating teams
Alongside Meyer and Impey at Mitchelton–Scott was Mathew Hayman, who announced in September 2018 that he would retire from professional racing after the 2019 Tour Down Under.


2019 Tour Down Under, Route
The route of the 2019 Tour Down Under was announced at the beginning of August 2018 and centred around the city of Adelaide in South Australia. There were six mass-start road stages and no time trials, with the race concluding with a summit finish at Willunga Hill for the first time. Two days before the start of the Tour, there was a flat criterium race, the People's Choice Classic, which took place in Rymill Park and which was suited for the sprinters. It was won by Caleb Ewan (Lotto–Soudal) in a sprint finish.


2019 Tour Down Under, Route
After the People's Choice Classic, it was announced that the second stage would be shortened due to forecasted high temperatures. Initially scheduled for 149 kilometres (93 miles), the stage was reduced to 122.1 kilometres (75.9 miles); a section of the route between Mount Pleasant and Springton via Williamstown was re-routed to bypass Williamstown altogether. The following morning, a minor adjustment was made to the finish of the opening stage in Port Adelaide, as a 3.4-kilometre (2.1-mile) finishing circuit was removed due to expected strong winds.


2019 Tour Down Under, Classification leadership table
In the 2019 Tour Down Under, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers at intermediate sprints and at the finish of mass-start stages, the leader received an ochre jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2018 Tour Down Under, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.


2019 Tour Down Under, Classification leadership table
Additionally, there was a sprints classification, which awarded a blue jersey, a change from green in 2018. In the sprints classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 10 in a stage. For winning a stage, a rider earned 15 points, with one point fewer per place down to 6 points for 10th place. Points towards the classification could also be accrued at intermediate sprint points during each stage; these intermediate sprints also offered bonus seconds towards the general classification. There was also a mountains classification, the leadership of which was marked by a white jersey with navy polka dots. In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs.


2019 Tour Down Under, Classification leadership table
The fourth jersey represented the young rider classification, marked by a white jersey. This was decided in the same way as the general classification, but only riders under the age of 26 were eligible to be ranked in the classification. There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest total time. In addition, there was a combativity award given after each stage to the rider(s) considered, by a jury, to have "instigated the most attacks, breakaways or assisted their teammates to the best advantage". The winner of the award wore a red number bib in the following stage.


2019 Tour de Corse
The 2019 Tour de Corse (also known as the Corsica Linea – Tour de Corse 2019) was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 28 and 31 March 2019. It marked the sixty-second running of Tour de Corse and was the fourth round of the 2019 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and the newly-created WRC-2 Pro class. It was also the second round of the Junior World Rally Championship. The 2019 event was based in the town of Bastia in Corsica, and was contested over fourteen special stages with a total a competitive distance of 347.51 km (215.93 mi).


2019 Tour de Corse
Reigning World Drivers' and World Co-Drivers' Champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia were the defending rally winners. M-Sport Ford WRT, the team they drove for in 2018, were the defending manufacturers' winners. Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler were the defending winners in the World Rally Championship-2 category, but they did not participate in the event. Jean-Baptiste Franceschi and Romain Courbon were the reigning World Rally Championship-3 and defending Junior World Rally Championship winners, but did not defend their titles as they did not take part in the rally.


2019 Tour de Corse
Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul won the Rally Corsica for the second time in their career. Their team, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, were the manufacturers' winners. The M-Sport Ford WRT crew of Łukasz Pieniążek and Kamil Heller won the WRC-2 Pro category, while the Italian crew of Fabio Andolfi and Simone Scattolin won the wider WRC-2 class, finishing first in the combined WRC-2 category. The second round of the J-WRC championship was taken by the ADAC Sachsen crew of Julius Tannert and Jürgen Heigl.


2019 Tour de Corse, Background, Championship standings prior to the event
Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja led the both drivers' and co-drivers' championships with a four-point ahead of six-time world champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul were third, a further six points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, defending manufacturers' champions Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT held an eight-point lead over Citroën Total WRT.


2019 Tour de Corse, Background, Championship standings prior to the event
In the World Rally Championship-2 Pro standings, Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson held a three-point lead ahead of Łukasz Pieniążek and Kamil Heller in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively. Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were third, one point further back. In the manufacturers' championship, M-Sport Ford WRT led Škoda Motorsport by forty-one points, with eleven-point-behind Citroën Total in third.


2019 Tour de Corse, Background, Championship standings prior to the event
In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, Ole Christian Veiby and Jonas Andersson led the drivers' and co-drivers' standings by fifteen points respectively. Yoann Bonato and Benjamin Boulloud crew and Benito Guerra and Jaime Zapata crew shared second.


2019 Tour de Corse, Background, Championship standings prior to the event
In the Junior-World Rally Championship standings, Tom Kristensson and Henrik Appelskog led Roland Poom and Ken Järveoja by eight points in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively, with Jan Solans and Mauro Barreriro two points further behind in third in their own standings. In the Nations' standings, Sweden were first, eight points cleared of Estonia, with Spain three points further behind in third.


2019 Tour de Corse, Background, Entry list
The following crews were entered into the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and WRC-2 Pro, the FIA R-GT Cup, the Junior World Rally Championship, and privateer entries not registered to score points in any championship. Ninety-six crews were registered to compete, including ten competing with World Rally Cars and eighteen in World Rally Championship-2. Two of these crews are nominate to score points in the WRC-2 Pro class. A further thirteen entries were received for the Junior World Rally Championship. The total of ninety-six crews made for the largest entry list for a World Rally Championship event since the 2015 edition of the Tour de Corse, when a total of 123 crews were registered to the event.


2019 Tour de Corse, Background, Route
The 2019 edition of Tour de Corse features a new route, with up to three-quarters of the route being revised from the 2018 edition.


2019 Tour de Corse, Background, Route, Itinerary
All dates and times are CET (UTC+1) from 28 to 30 March 2019 and CEST (UTC+2) on 31 March 2019.


2019 Tour de Corse, Report, World Rally Cars
The very first stage of the first pure tarmac rally of the season was dramatic. Kris Meeke suffered a puncture, while four-time winner Sébastien Loeb slid wide and damaged his suspension. Defending world champion Sébastien Ogier nosed his C3 into the bank and lost about ten seconds. In the afternoon loop, a stage drama happened between Meeke and rally leader Elfyn Evans. Evans caught up to Meeke and got stuck behind him, which saw Evans set a stage time eleven seconds slower than Meeke's Toyota teammate Ott Tänak. Evans dropped behind Thierry Neuville, who was 5.3 seconds behind Tänak, on the leaderboard. Eventually, the stewards decided to credit Evans with the same time as the Estonian, which restored him to first with an unchanged advantage after Leg 1.


2019 Tour de Corse, Report, World Rally Cars
Saturday appeared to be a disaster for the overnight leader Tänak, who also suffered a puncture and dropped down to sixth, which handled the lead back to Evans. But the Welshman's lead was short-lived as Neuville charged himself to the top spot in the final stage of the day with a-4.5-second lead. Despite Evans astonishingly fought back, an extremely unfortunate right-front puncture happened to the Welshman at where six kilometers from the finish line, which dropped him straightly down to third, over twenty seconds behind defending world champion Sébastien Ogier. Following Evans' puncture, Neuville snatched his first victory of the season.


2019 Tour de Corse, Report, World Rally Championship-2 Pro
Kalle Rovanperä led the WRC-2 Pro category as Łukasz Pieniążek suffered an early puncture. However, Rovanperä was forced to retire from the event as he crashed his Fabia out in SS9. In SS12, Pieniążek also retired from the day as he went off the road. But he managed to come back on the final day and took the win.


2019 Tour de Corse, Report, World Rally Championship-2 Pro, Special stages
Results in bold denote first in the RC2 class, the class which both the WRC-2 Pro and WRC-2 championships run to.


2019 Tour de Corse, Report, World Rally Championship-2
In the WRC-2 category, local driver Eric Camilli dominated the day in a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 as he won all six stages. However, on Saturday, an early puncture dropped him behind Fabio Andolfi, who led the category after Yoann Bonato's retirement. Wore still, although he reduced the gap to just 5.4 seconds, he still forced to retire from the rally as his Polo was burnt out. Eventually, Fabio Andolfi won the category after he overcame a transmission issue.


2019 Tour de Corse, Report, World Rally Championship-2, Special stages
Results in bold denote first in the RC2 class, the class which both the WRC-2 Pro and WRC-2 championships run to.


2019 Tour de Corse, Report, Junior World Rally Championship
Jan Solans started rally impressively, with over six seconds faster than any driver of the class in the first stage. However, a puncture cost him over two minutes and handled championship leader Tom Kristensson a comfortable lead. In the end, Julius Tannert put the rally into his pocket after an intense fight with championship leader Kristensson.


2019 Tour de France
The 2019 Tour de France was the 106th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tours. The 3,365.8 km (2,091 mi)-long race consisted of 21 stages, starting in the Belgian capital of Brussels on 6 July, before moving throughout France and concluding on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 28 July. A total of 176 riders from 22 teams participated in the race. The overall general classification was won for the first time by a Latin American rider, Egan Bernal of Team Ineos. His teammate and 2018 Tour winner Geraint Thomas finished second while Steven Kruijswijk (Team Jumbo–Visma) came in third.


2019 Tour de France
Kruijswijk's teammate Mike Teunissen won stage 1's bunch sprint to take the first yellow jersey of the Tour. Julian Alaphilippe of Deceuninck–Quick-Step took the lead of the race following his victory of stage 3. He lost the yellow jersey after the sixth stage to Giulio Ciccone (Trek–Segafredo) who was the highest placed rider of a breakaway group that finished ahead of the peloton (main group). Ciccone's lead of the Tour lasted two stages, before Alaphilippe retook it after stage 8. Against expectations, he held the yellow jersey for the next eleven stages, including the Pyrenees, before losing it to Bernal on the second day in the Alps, stage 19, which was shortened by inclement weather. Bernal held his lead in the final two stages to win the Tour.


2019 Tour de France
The points classification was won by Bora–Hansgrohe's Peter Sagan for a record seventh time, with Romain Bardet of AG2R La Mondiale winning the mountains classification. Bernal also won the young rider classification. The team classification was won by Movistar Team and Alaphilippe was named the overall most combative rider. Caleb Ewan of Lotto–Soudal won the most stages, with three.


2019 Tour de France, Teams
The 2019 edition of the Tour de France consisted of 22 teams. The race was the 27th of the 38 events in the UCI World Tour, and all of its 18 UCI WorldTeams were entitled, and obliged, to enter the race. Additionally, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the organisers of the Tour, invited four second-tier UCI Professional Continental teams to participate in the event. The three French and one Belgian teams had each participated in the race before. The presentation of the teams – where the members of each team's roster are introduced in front of the media and local dignitaries – took place in front of a crowd of 75,000 on the Grand Place square in Brussels, Belgium, on 4 July, two days before the opening stage.


2019 Tour de France, Teams
Each squad was allowed a maximum of eight riders, resulting in a start list total of 176. Of these, 33 competed in their first Tour de France. The riders came from 30 countries. Six countries had more than ten riders in the race: France (43), Belgium (21), Italy (15), Spain (13), Germany (11) and the Netherlands (11). The average age of riders in the race was 29.71 years, ranging from the 21-year-old Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) to the 39-year-old Lars Bak (Team Dimension Data). Team Sunweb had the youngest average age while Team Dimension Data had the oldest.


2019 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
Pre -race predictions in the media, as well as the bookmakers, on the general classification were drastically altered when four-time Tour winner Chris Froome (Team Ineos) was ruled out with multiple injuries following his crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné three weeks before the Tour. Although he was third overall behind teammate and winner Geraint Thomas in the previous year's Tour, Froome was considered the 2019 Tour favourite before his crash. Prior to Froome's withdrawal, there was no official announcement by Team Ineos on leadership for the Tour, which could have potentially been shared between himself, Thomas and Egan Bernal.


2019 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
Another major absentee was the 2018 Tour runner-up Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb), who missed the Tour with a knee injury he picked up at the Giro d'Italia, the Grand Tour of Italy that took place a month before the Tour de France, and a race he won in 2017. With their absence, the Tour was expected to be a more open race, with Thomas and Bernal as the leading contenders. Their closest rivals were thought to be Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Steven Kruijswijk (Team Jumbo–Visma), Mikel Landa (Movistar Team), Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain–Merida), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama–FDJ), Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) and Adam Yates (Mitchelton–Scott).


2019 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
After celebrating his 2018 Tour victory, Thomas was overweight at the start of the 2019 season. His only result of note before the Tour was a third-place overall finish at the Tour de Romandie in early May. In June he abandoned the Tour de Suisse following a crash, and required recovery time, which put his ability to perform at the Tour in doubt. Bernal made his Tour debut in 2018 riding as a domestique (leader's assistant) for Froome and Thomas, who are ten years his senior.


2019 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
In the 2019 season, he was planned to lead his team's Giro squad, but missed the race after he broke his collarbone. His major wins of the season up to the Tour were the Paris–Nice stage race before his injury and the Tour de Suisse on his return. In the Tour, he was to share the leadership with Thomas according to the team, although some in the media expected an internal battle between the two.


2019 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
Bardet had finished on the podium twice in his career, second in 2016 and third in 2017. His form was lacking in the build up to the Tour, although his experience and the consistency of his previous performances in the race were considered enough to make him a serious contender. Fuglsang was the most in-form contender, enjoying a successful spring classics campaign, including victory in the prestigious "monument" one-day race Liège–Bastogne–Liège as well as the stage races Vuelta a Andalucía and the Dauphiné.


2019 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
Fuglsang was thought likely to benefit from a strong team, but doubt was cast on his ability to perform over a three-week Grand Tour, as he had never finished in the top three places in a Grand Tour. That too was the case with Kruijswijk, who had performed well in the season and was considered a top contender, despite suffering with illness leading up to the Tour. Landa's form was considered harder to predict, as he had stayed away from racing after the Giro, where he just missed out on a podium place. His best overall result in the Tour so far had been in 2017, when he finished fourth riding as a domestique to Froome.


2019 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
Veteran rider Nibali had no wins so far in 2019, but placed second overall at the Giro and was considered to be a danger due to his experience. He was the only rider on the start list apart from Thomas to have won a Tour, the 2014 edition. Pinot was also considered to be in form after finishing fifth overall in the Dauphiné, and before that, winning the general classification of the non-World Tour Tour de l'Ain and Tour du Haut Var.


2019 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
It was however speculated that the pressure of being a home favourite could affect him negatively, as well having issues with heat. His previous results in the Tour had been mixed: he had finished third in 2014, but had dropped out of the race twice since then. Quintana, a two-time Grand Tour winner, was seen as a podium contender. Yates returned to the race after finishing 29th overall the previous year. Although he withdrew from the Dauphiné a few weeks earlier for illness, he had been in good form before then.


2019 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
Other riders expected to place high in the general classification were Emanuel Buchmann (Bora–Hansgrohe), Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates), Enric Mas (Deceuninck–Quick-Step), Richie Porte (Trek–Segafredo), Rigoberto Urán and Tejay van Garderen (both EF Education First), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) and Ilnur Zakarin (Team Katusha–Alpecin).


2019 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
The 2018 winner of the points classification, Peter Sagan (Bora–Hansgrohe), returned to defend his title in an attempt to break Erik Zabel's record of six wins. Before the Tour he shared the record with Zabel, after winning the classification in six out of the past seven editions. Sagan was regarded as the clear favourite for winning the points classification. The riders thought to be Sagan's biggest rivals were Caleb Ewan (Lotto–Soudal), Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jumbo–Visma), Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) and Elia Viviani (Deceuninck–Quick-Step). Other contenders for the green jersey were Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck–Quick-Step), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Dimension Data), Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) and Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo–Visma).


2019 Tour de France, Route and stages
On 30 May 2017, the ASO announced that Brussels would host the 2019 edition's opening stages (known as the Grand Départ), honouring one of the Tour's most successful riders, Belgian Eddy Merckx, on the 50th anniversary of his first of five overall victories. It was the second time the Grand Départ had taken place in Brussels and was the fifth Belgian Grand Départ. It also marked 100 years since the race leader's yellow jersey was first seen at a Tour.


2019 Tour de France, Route and stages
Further details of the Grand Départ were revealed on 16 January 2018: the opening stage that featured the Muur van Geraardsbergen climb, an iconic steep cobbled climb of the Tour of Flanders "monument" race, and a second stage team time trial around the streets of Brussels. The entire route, which the race director Christian Prudhomme described as "the highest Tour in history", was unveiled on 25 October 2018.


2019 Tour de France, Route and stages
The opening stage visited Charleroi and looped back to Brussels, to connect the regions of Flanders and Wallonia in a stage. Starting in Binche, the third stage left Belgium for France, with the following stage taking the race to the north-east to the Vosges Mountains for two further stages. The transitional stage 7 moved the Tour south-west and towards the Massif Central highland region, with stage 8 ending in the city of Saint-Étienne. Stages 9 and 10 traversed the Massif Central, before the Tour's first rest day.


2019 Tour de France, Route and stages
The following two stages moved the race to the Pyrenees, which hosted four stages. After the second rest day, the Tour took a long transfer east for stage 16, finishing in Nîmes. Stage 17 took the race up to the Alps at Gap. After three Alpine stages, an air transfer moved the Tour to the outskirts of Paris, ending with the Champs-Élysées stage.


2019 Tour de France, Route and stages
There were 21 stages in the race, covering a total distance of 3,365.8 km (2,091 mi). There were two time trial events, stage 2's 27.6 km (17 mi) team time trial and stage 13's 27.2 km (17 mi) individual time trial. Of the remaining nineteen stages, seven were officially classified as flat, five as hilly and seven as mountainous. The longest mass-start stage was stage 10, at 217.5 km (135 mi), and the shortest was stage 14, at 117.5 km (73 mi).


2019 Tour de France, Route and stages
The route contained five mountain-top finishes: stage 6, to La Planche des Belles Filles; stages 14, to the Col du Tourmalet; stage 15, to Foix; stage 19, to Col de l'Iseran; and stage 20, to Val Thorens. The Iseran mountain pass, the highest paved pass in Europe, featured on stage 19. This was the seventh time that the Tour climbed the 2,770 m (9,090 ft) Iseran, but only the second ascent from the more difficult southern side. It was among five hors catégorie (beyond category) rated climbs in the race. Of the 34 stage start or finish hosts, the race visited Binche, Saint-Dié-des-Vosges and Pont du Gard for the first time.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, First week: Belgium, north-eastern to southern France
Stage 1's bunch sprint finish was won by Team Jumbo–Visma's Mike Teunissen. He was initially a member of the team's sprint train who were leading out their designated sprinter Dylan Groenewegen, but following Groenewegen's crash in the closing 2 km (1.2 mi), Teunissen was free to race in the sprint. He took the first yellow and green jerseys as the leader of the general and points classifications respectively. Early in the stage, Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) led the breakaway group over the highest categorised climb of the stage, the third-category Muur van Geraardsbergen, claiming the lead in the mountains classification and the first polka dot jersey as the leader of the classification.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, First week: Belgium, north-eastern to southern France
Teunissen increased his overall lead in the race following his team's victory in stage 2's team time trial, finishing twenty seconds ahead of second-placed Team Ineos. However, his hold on the yellow jersey was short lived after the following day's hilly stage when he lost the race lead to Julian Alaphilippe, who launched a solo attack with 16 km (9.9 mi) to go over the final climb, the third-category Côte de Mutigny, catching and passing the remainder of the breakaway to win the stage. Peter Sagan and Tim Wellens (Lotto–Soudal) took the green and polka dot jerseys respectively. The following day's flat stage ended in a bunch sprint won by Elia Viviani.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, First week: Belgium, north-eastern to southern France
The climbs of stage 5 did not cause trouble to the race, as most of the stage contenders retained their energy for the following stage's steep finish of the first-category Planche des Belles Filles climb. An early four-man breakaway, which included mountains classification leader Wellens, was caught well before the sprint bunch finish, won by Sagan. The mountainous stage 6 saw a 14-strong breakaway gain a lead of more than 8 minutes. By the second-category Col des Chevrères, only four riders remained.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, First week: Belgium, north-eastern to southern France
Wellens and Xandro Meurisse (Wanty–Gobert), the former having secured his polka dot jersey for another day, were distanced on the final climb by Dylan Teuns (Bahrain–Merida) and Giulio Ciccone (Trek–Segafredo). Teuns went on to win the stage, and despite Ciccone fading before Teuns in the final metres of the climb he managed to take over the yellow jersey, as the strongest of the peloton (main group) came in over one and a half minutes behind, with former leader Alaphilippe standing six seconds down in second place. The final 500 m (1,640 ft) also proved to be a difficulty for general classification contenders Vincenzo Nibali, Richie Porte and Romain Bardet, who lost time on the climb.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, First week: Belgium, north-eastern to southern France
Stage 7, returning to the flat after the Vosges Mountains, was uneventful, with the breakaway being held by the peloton to only a few minutes, and despite early crashes by Tejay van Garderen and Teunissen, ended in a technical bunch sprint won by Groenewegen. The Tour began its traverse of the Massif Central with stage 8; with close to 4,000 m (13,000 ft) of elevation gain, it was seen before the race as a potential win from a breakaway, which on the day had four riders.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, First week: Belgium, north-eastern to southern France
As the successive climbs were passed, this number was gradually reduced, with only Thomas De Gendt (Lotto–Soudal) and Alessandro De Marchi (CCC Team) surviving until the final climb, on which De Gendt successfully distanced him. With the breakaway duo's advantage down to under a minute in the final kilometres, Alaphilippe and Thibault Pinot attacked and gained twenty seconds on the much reduced peloton, as De Gendt managed to hold on for the stage victory, with Alaphilippe regaining his yellow jersey. Defending champion Geraint Thomas survived his second crash in this edition of the Tour.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, First week: Belgium, north-eastern to southern France
Stage 9 saw an early 15-strong breakaway form, which the peloton let go. At the 40 km (24.9 mi) to go mark, Lukas Pöstlberger of Bora–Hansgrohe escaped the breakaway until 15 km (9.3 mi) from the finish on the final climb of the third-category Côte de Saint-Just. Following this, a leading trio emerged, consisting of Nicolas Roche (Team Sunweb), Tiesj Benoot (Lotto–Soudal) and Daryl Impey (Mitchelton–Scott). Roche was dropped before the finish, leaving the victory to Impey who overcame Benoot in the final sprint, in a day which otherwise saw no significant changes in the overall standings.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, First week: Belgium, north-eastern to southern France
The tenth stage was on relatively flat terrain. With 30 km (18.6 mi) remaining, splits occurred in the peloton as Team Ineos and others took to the front and broke the field apart in strong crosswinds. This effort proved decisive, as several overall contenders who were caught behind, including Pinot, Richie Porte, Rigoberto Urán, Jakob Fuglsang and Mikel Landa, lost time on the front group. Thomas, Egan Bernal, Alaphilippe and Bardet maintained their position at the front of the race, amongst a reduced bunch. The victory went to Wout van Aert, as several of the main sprinters were caught behind, including his Team Jumbo–Visma teammate Groenewegen.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, First week: Belgium, north-eastern to southern France
By the first rest day, which was a day later than usual, the general classification was led by Alaphilippe, who had a lead of 1' 12" on Thomas, behind whom was Bernal in third place, just 4" from Thomas. Home favourite Pinot, despite being 1' 21" back from Thomas in eleventh place, was considered by his directeur sportif Marc Madiot to still be in contention. In the points classification, pre-race favourite Sagan was in first position, already 62 points ahead of second-placed Michael Matthews. The mountains classification was more closely contested, with breakaway riders and Lotto–Soudal teammates Wellens and De Gendt respectively first and second, with a gap of six points.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Second week: Southern France and Pyrenees
Stage 11's small breakaway was caught with 5 km (3.1 mi) remaining, before Caleb Ewan won the bunch sprint finish. The first Pyrenean stage, the twelfth, saw a 42-rider breakaway reduce to a group of Simon Yates (Mitchelton–Scott), Pello Bilbao (Astana) and Gregor Mühlberger (Bora–Hansgrohe) on the final climb of the third-category La Hourquette d'Ancizan, the second of the stage's two first-category climbs. The trio descended to the finish at Bagnères-de-Bigorre, where Yates won the sprint. The majority of the peloton came in close to ten minutes after. A notable abandonment of the stage, for personal reasons, was the reigning world time trial champion Rohan Dennis (Bahrain–Merida), a favourite for the following day's time trial.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Second week: Southern France and Pyrenees
In the aforementioned stage, Alaphilippe took the victory, with a time of 35' 00" across the 27.2 km (17 mi) course, achieving a victory on a day where he was expected to lose time to riders such as Thomas, who ended up in second place, fourteen seconds down. Wout van Aert, one of the favourites for the stage, had to abandon the race during the time trial after he crashed, having clipped a barrier on the side of the road.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Second week: Southern France and Pyrenees
On stage 14, the last of the breakaway riders were caught by the leading group of general classification contenders at 10 km (6.2 mi) before the finish atop the hors catégorie Col du Tourmalet. With 1 km (0.62 mi) remaining, Thomas got detached from the lead group containing Alaphilippe, Emanuel Buchmann, Pinot, Bernal, Landa and Steven Kruijswijk. Pinot attacked in the final 250 m (270 yd) and held his lead to the finish line at the summit.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Second week: Southern France and Pyrenees
On the final stage in the Pyrenees, Simon Yates took his second stage win of the race from a reduced breakaway of six at the summit of the 11.8 km (7.3 mi) first-category climb to Prat d'Albis. Pinot attacked the group of general classification contenders with 6 km (3.7 mi) remaining to finish in second place with Landa, 33 seconds behind, progressing to fourth overall. The duo of Bernal and Buchmann came in 33' down, followed by the last few breakaway riders, and then the group of favourites, led by Thomas, who finished 1' 22" behind Yates.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Second week: Southern France and Pyrenees
The following day was the Tour's second rest day. By this point, overall race leader Alaphilippe was exceeding expectations, with a 1' 35" lead over Thomas. Kruijswijk was third at 1' 47", followed by Pinot, Bernal and Buchmann respectively. The green jersey was still held by Sagan, who now had a lead of 85 points over second-placed Viviani, while the mountains classification was still led by Wellens.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Third week: Southern France, Alps and finale in Paris
As the Tour came down from the Pyrenees for transitional stages towards the Alps, it experienced the beginning of the July 2019 European heat wave, which saw temperatures reach a high of 35 °C (95 °F) during stage 16. Ewan won the stage from a bunch sprint in Nîmes, his second of the Tour. Crashes during the stage included overall favourites Thomas and Fuglsang, with the latter forced to abandon. In the following stage, the 33-rider breakaway's advantage grew to 15 minutes at one point.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Third week: Southern France, Alps and finale in Paris
Matteo Trentin of Mitchelton–Scott attacked a reduced breakaway with 40 km (25 mi) from the finish on the final climb, the third-category Côte de la Sentinelle, and soloed to victory with lead of 37 seconds, with peloton over 20 minutes behind. Luke Rowe (Team Ineos) and Tony Martin (Team Jumbo–Visma) were both disqualified from the Tour following an altercation near the front of the peloton in the latter part of the stage.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Third week: Southern France, Alps and finale in Paris
Stage 18, the first in the Alps, was led by breakaway riders throughout the stage's climbs, which included the first-category Col de Vars and the hors catégorie Col d'Izoard and Col du Galibier. The 34-strong breakaway had been reduced to a group of elite riders by the foot of the Galibier, the final climb. Nairo Quintana attacked with 7.5 km (4.7 mi) still to climb, and by the summit had built a lead of over a minute and a half, which he held on the descent to the finish.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Third week: Southern France, Alps and finale in Paris
Meanwhile, with 2 km (1.2 mi) remaining of the Galibier, Bernal attacked from within the group of general classification contenders containing Alaphilippe and Thomas, allowing Bernal to recover half a minute on his rivals by the finish and move up to second overall. The lead of the mountains classification went to Romain Bardet, who was a pre-race favourite for the yellow jersey but moved out of contention after losing 20 minutes on stage 14's Col du Tourmalet, thereafter switching focus to breakaway rides.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Third week: Southern France, Alps and finale in Paris
Around 40 km (25 mi) into stage 19, Pinot, who had been placed fifth in the general classification, abandoned the race with a leg muscle injury. At the head of the race in the closing kilometres of the planned second to last climb, the hors catégorie Col de l'Iseran, Bernal attacked from the group of overall contenders, catching and passing final breakaway riders by the summit. Next over the top were breakers Simon Yates and Warren Barguil (Arkéa–Samsic), one minute behind Bernal, with the yellow jersey contenders following.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Third week: Southern France, Alps and finale in Paris
Alaphilippe was dropped following Bernal's attack, and was two minutes behind at the summit. During the descent, the race was neutralised when a hailstorm caused ice and landslides to block the route to the final climb to Tignes, particularly a mudslide at the foot of the descent before Val-d'Isère. Times for the general classification were taken at the summit of the Iseran, with the stage victory and most combative rider of the day not awarded. As a result, Bernal, who had been in second place overall, moved ahead of Alaphilippe and took the yellow jersey. The stage was shortened from 126.5 km (79 mi) to 89 km (55 mi).


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Third week: Southern France, Alps and finale in Paris
The inclement weather also caused the penultimate stage to be reduced in length beforehand, from 130 km (81 mi) to 59.5 km (37 mi), bypassing the first-category Cormet de Roselend and the second-category Côte de Longefoy, with the only climb being the hors catégorie-rated one to Val Thorens at the finish. A group of 29 riders established a two-and-a-half minute lead over the peloton, before being vastly reduced to six on the early slopes of the Val Thorens climb.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Third week: Southern France, Alps and finale in Paris
With 12 km (7.5 mi) remaining, Nibali attacked from this group and soloed to victory, ten seconds ahead of chasers Landa and Alejandro Valverde. Close behind, Bernal and Thomas led the other general classification contenders Urán, Buchmann and Kruijswijk. Alaphilippe was dropped again, losing three minutes to Bernal and dropping from second overall to fifth.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Third week: Southern France, Alps and finale in Paris
The final stage in Paris was won by Ewan in a bunch sprint on the Champs-Élysées, his third win and the most of any rider in this edition of the race. Bernal won the race with no changes in the final stage. The 22-year-old Colombian became the youngest since François Faber in 1909 and first Latin American Tour winner. Thomas came second overall, 1' 11" down on Bernal, with Kruijswijk a further 20 seconds behind in third. Sagan won a record seventh points classification with a total of 316, 68 ahead of Ewan in second.


2019 Tour de France, Race overview, Third week: Southern France, Alps and finale in Paris
Bardet won the mountains classification with 86 points, 8 ahead of Bernal in second. The young rider classification was won by Bernal, with thirteenth-placed overall Gaudu second. Bernal became the fifth rider to win both the general and young rider classification in the same year, following Laurent Fignon (1983), Jan Ullrich (1997), Alberto Contador (2007), and Andy Schleck (2010). The Movistar Team squad finished as the winners of the team classification, 47' 54" ahead of second-placed Trek–Segafredo. Of the 176 starters, 155 reached the finish of the last stage in Paris.


2019 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
Four main individual classifications and a team competition were contested in the race. The most important was the general classification, calculated by adding each rider's finishing times on each stage. Time bonuses (time subtracted) were awarded at the end of every stage apart from the time trial stages. The first three riders received 10, 6, and 4 seconds, respectively. In an effort to animate racing in the general classification, time bonuses of 8, 5, and 2 seconds respectively were also awarded for the first three riders across a mountain summit, given out on eight climbs.


2019 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
These occurred on stages 3, 6, 8, 9, 12, 15, 18, and 19. These bonuses replaced the special time "bonus point" sprints that were a feature in the 2018 edition. For crashes within the final 3 km (1.9 mi) of a stage, not including time trials and summit finishes, any rider involved would have received the same time as the group he was in when the crash occurred. The rider with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the general classification and was considered to be the overall winner of the Tour. The rider leading the classification wore a yellow jersey. In celebration of 100th anniversary of the yellow jersey, individual jersey designs were worn on each stage, apart from the first.


2019 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
Additionally, there was a points classification. Riders received points for finishing among the highest placed in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints during the stage. The points available for each stage finish were determined by the stage's type, and sprints, with the first fifteen places in all receiving points. In flat stages, 50 points were given to the stage winner, down to 2 points for 15th place. In hilly stages, the winner gained 30 points, also down to 2 points. In mountain stages, individual time trials and intermediate sprints, 20 points were given to the winners, down to 1 point. The cyclist with the most points led the classification, and was identified with a green jersey.


2019 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
There was also a mountains classification. Most stages of the race included one or more categorised climbs, in which points were awarded to the riders that reached the summit first. The climbs were categorised as fourth-, third-, second-, and first-category and hors catégorie, with the more difficult climbs rated lower. Mountains ranked hors catégorie gave 20 points to the first rider to cross the summit, down to 2 points to the 8th cyclist. For first-category climbs, 6 riders received points, with 10 for the first rider to reach the summit.


2019 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
Second-, third- and fourth-category climbs gave 5, 2 and 1 points to the first rider respectively. Double points were awarded at the top of the five planned hors catégorie climbs higher than 2,000 m (6,562 ft). The cyclist with the most points led the classification, wearing a white jersey with red polka dots.


2019 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The final individual classification was the young rider classification. This was calculated the same way as the general classification, but only riders under 26 years were eligible. This meant that in order to compete in the classification, a rider had to be born after 1 January 1994. Of the 176 starters, 48 were eligible. The leader wore a white jersey.


2019 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The classification for the teams was calculated by adding together the times of the first three cyclists of a team on each stage; the leading team was the one with the lowest cumulative time. The number of stage victories and placings per team would have determined the outcome of a tie. The riders on the team that led this classification were identified with yellow number bibs on the back of their jerseys and yellow helmets.


2019 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
In addition, there was a combativity award given after each stage to the rider considered, by a jury, to have "made the greatest effort and who demonstrated the best qualities of sportsmanship". No combativity awards were given for the time trials and the final stage. The winner wore a red number bib for the following stage. At the conclusion of the Tour, Julian Alaphilippe won the overall super-combativity award, again awarded by a jury.


2019 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
A total of €2,291,700 was awarded in cash prizes in the race. The overall winner of the general classification received €500,000, with the second and third placed riders getting €200,000 and €100,000 respectively. All finishers in the top 160 were awarded money. The holders of the classifications benefited on each stage they led; the final winners of the points and mountains were given €25,000, while the best young rider and most combative rider got €20,000. The team classification winners earned €50,000. €11,000 was given to the winners of each stage of the race, with smaller amounts given to places 2–20.


2019 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
There were also two special awards each with a prize of €5000. The Souvenir Jacques Goddet, given to the first rider to pass Goddet's memorial at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet in stage 14, and the Souvenir Henri Desgrange, given to the first rider to pass the summit of the highest climb in the Tour, the Col de l'Iseran on stage 19. Thibaut Pinot won the Jacques Goddet and Egan Bernal claimed the Henri Desgrange.


2019 Tour de France, UCI rankings
For the UCI World Ranking system, riders from both the WorldTeams and Professional Continental teams competed individually, for their teams, and for their nations, winning points that contributed towards separate rankings, which included all UCI road races. There was also an individual ranking introduced for the 2019 season that only took into account UCI stage races, the Stage Race World Ranking. Points were awarded to the top 60 in the general classification, each yellow jersey given at the end of a stage, the top 5 finishers in each stage and for the top 3 in the final points and mountains classifications.


2019 Tour de France, UCI rankings
The points accrued by Egan Bernal moved him from 23rd to 6th in the individual World Ranking and from ninth to second in the Stage Race World Ranking. Julian Alaphilippe retained his position at the top of individual World Ranking, with Deceuninck–Quick-Step and Belgium also holding the lead of the team and nation ranking respectively.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11
The 2019 Tour de France was the 106th edition of Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour began in Brussels, Belgium, with a flat stage on 6 July, and Stage 11 occurred on 17 July with a flat stage to Toulouse. The race finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 28 July.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
6 July 2019 - Brussels to Brussels via Charleroi, 194.5 km (120.9 mi)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 1
Greg Van Avermaet went forward of the peloton from the start of the stage, with a group of three other riders. Van Avermaet proceeded to collect the early mountains points on the Muur van Geraardsbergen before returning to the peloton. The breakaway group had all returned to the peloton, before the sprint, with 70 km (43 mi) remaining. The sprint was won by Mike Teunissen. Jakob Fuglsang suffered a crash with 18 km (11 mi) remaining, and continued but required medical attention. Dylan Groenewegen and Geraint Thomas were involved in a crash in the final 2 km (1.2 mi) of the stage, with both able to continue the race.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
7 July 2019 - Brussels-Royal Palace to Brussels-Atomium, 27.6 km (17.1 mi) (TTT)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
The twenty-two teams departed at five-minute intervals between 2:30pm and 4:15pm CET.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 2
The finishing time of Team Ineos, the first team to depart, remained the best time until the final team, Team Jumbo–Visma, completed the course. Team Jumbo–Visma averaged 57 km/h (35 mph) along the route. Groupama–FDJ's David Gaudu suffered a crash on the final corner of the course, sustaining a superficial injury.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
8 July 2019 - Binche to Épernay, 215 km (134 mi)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 3
A breakaway group of five riders, including Tim Wellens, went in front of the peloton from early in the stage. Wellens attacked the lead group at 48.5 km (30.1 mi) from the finish, on the approach to the Côte de Nanteuil-la-Fôret. The remainder of the breakaway were caught with 30 km (19 mi) remaining, while Wellens had an advantage of over a minute and a half to the peloton. Julian Alaphilippe attacked on the final climb of the day, the Côte de Mutigny, reaching Wellens at the top of the climb. Alaphilippe then continued forward, alone, for the final 15 km (9.3 mi).


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
9 July 2019 - Reims to Nancy, 213.5 km (132.7 mi)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 4
A group of three riders went ahead of the peloton from early in the stage, having an advantage of around three and a half minutes with 92 km (57 mi) remaining. The peloton caught the breakaway group at 16 km (9.9 mi) from the finish. Lilian Calmejane attacked with around 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining, but was caught with 6 km (3.7 mi) to go. The race then finished with a bunch sprint.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
10 July 2019 - Saint-Dié-des-Vosges to Colmar, 175.5 km (109.1 mi)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 5
A four-man breakaway group established itself over 20 km (12 mi) into the stage, with Tim Wellens leading the race over the first two climbs. Toms Skujiņš attacked from the lead group with 37 km (23 mi) remaining, leading the race over the Côte des Trois-Epis. The remainder of the peloton neutralised the breakaway group participants before the top of the Côte des Cinq Chateaux. Rui Costa established a short lead in the final few kilometres, being caught with 2 km (1.2 mi) to go. The stage then concluded with a bunch sprint.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
11 July 2019 - Mulhouse to La Planche des Belles Filles, 160.5 km (99.7 mi)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
The sixth stage featured the first real climbs of the Tour, entering the Vosges mountain range. The riders departed from Mulhouse heading north through Wittelsheim and Guebwiller to a sprint at Linthal. The route then headed west to the category 1 climb of Le Markstein at 1,183 m (3,881 ft) and turned east, continuing the climb into the category 3 Grand Ballon. Heading south, the riders climbed the category 2 Col du Hundstruck. The race then continued east to the category 1 Ballon d'Alsace at 1,178 m (3,865 ft), and then the category 3 Col des Croix.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
Continuing south, the riders climbed the category 2 Col des Chevrères, before winding south and then east, to the finish line at the category 1 climb to La Planche des Belles Filles, at 1,140 m (3,740 ft). This was the fourth ever finish at La Planche des Belles Filles, with the three previous times always resulting in  the eventual overall Tour winner ending this stage in the yellow jersey.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
New Zealand's Patrick Bevin did not start the stage, becoming the first rider to withdraw from the tour after X-rays revealed fractured ribs as a result of crash two days before. Later during the stage Nicolas Edet would abandon as well, due to illness.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
At the start of the stage, fourteen riders quickly formed the breakaway group, including amongst others the leader of the mountains classification Tim Wellens; former stage winners Thomas De Gendt and André Greipel; and the 2019 Giro d'Italia mountains classification winner Giulio Ciccone who was also the best placed in the general classification at 1' 43" behind Julian Alaphilippe. The advantage over the peloton quickly rose to five minutes, growing to eight minutes at the foot of the Ballon d'Alsace, with Deceuninck–Quick-Step struggling to bring the peloton closer and stopping the chase altogether.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
Meanwhile at the front, Wellens was gathering most points for the mountains classification, occasionally helped by his teammate De Gendt. De Gendt sprinted away to take the points on the Col des Croix and took a lead of 30 seconds in the descent, but was overtaken on the next climb when the breakaway group got split up completely. Four riders remained in the lead and started the ascent of the final climb with still four minutes of advantage over the peloton: Giulio Ciccone and three Flemish riders: Wellens, Xandro Meurisse and Dylan Teuns.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 6
Ciccone and Teuns still had two minutes of advantage over the peloton with one kilometre to go, in spite of attacks from Warren Barguil and Mikel Landa in front of a chasing peloton. Teuns drove the full last km just in front of Ciccone, dropping him only in the last 100 metres to take his first Grand Tour stage win, while Meurisse managed to take third place over a minute behind. Geraint Thomas was fastest of the favorites, gaining some seconds over most other favorites and Alaphilippe. Bigger time losses were noted for Steven Kruijswijk and Enric Mas who lost over half a minute, while Vincenzo Nibali and Romain Bardet lost almost a full minute. Despite finishing second, Ciccone did manage to take over the yellow jersey from Alaphilippe by a narrow margin of only six seconds.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
12 July 2019 - Belfort to Chalon-sur-Saône, 230 km (140 mi)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 7
Stage seven was the longest stage of the tour. A two-man breakaway, comprising Stéphane Rossetto and Yoann Offredo, led from early in the stage. Tejay van Garderen and Mike Teunissen crashed after 7 km (4.3 mi) of racing, but both managed to continue. The two man-breakaway extended their lead to over four minutes, but returned to the peloton with 12 km (7.5 mi) remaining. The stage then concluded with a bunch sprint.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
13 July 2019 - Mâcon to Saint-Étienne, 200 km (120 mi)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
A quartet of riders established a five minute lead, by the intermediate sprint, at 43.5 km (27 mi) into the stage. The group contained Thomas De Gendt, Niki Terpstra, Ben King and Alessandro De Marchi. Terpstra won the intermediate sprint, and De Gendt then led the race over the first three climbs. De Gendt and De Marchi dropped the other two riders on the Côte de la Croix de Part, with 60 km (37 mi) still to race.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 8
Michael Woods, Geraint Thomas and Gianni Moscon were involved in a crash with 15 km (9.3 mi) remaining, which destroyed Moscon's bike frame, though all riders were able to continue. De Gendt attacked De Marchi with 13 km (8.1 mi) to race, having around a minute's advantage over the main group of riders. As De Marchi was caught by the main group, Julian Alaphilippe attacked and Thibaut Pinot quickly followed. The pair kept their gap over the peloton, to the finish, but failed to catch stage winner De Gendt.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
14 July 2019 - Saint-Étienne to Brioude, 170.5 km (105.9 mi)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
Early in the stage, Alessandro De Marchi suffered a crash which required hospitalisation. A 15-strong breakaway group went ahead of the peloton before the category 1 Mur d'Aurec-sur-Loire and gained a 10-minute advantage before the intermediate sprint, which was won by Edvald Boasson Hagen. Simon Clarke and Jan Tratnik attacked the lead group with 61 km (38 mi) remaining, with some of the group chasing them down.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 9
Lukas Pöstlberger then managed to gain just under a minute's advantage, with 25 km (16 mi) still to race, but was caught and left behind on the Cote de Saint-Just by Nicolas Roche and Tiesj Benoot, 11 km (6.8 mi) later. Daryl Impey then bridged the gap to the two lead riders. With 8 km (5 mi) to go, Benoot attacked, dropping Roche, while Impey stayed with the leader. The two attackers maintained their advantage to the finish, with the fragmented breakaway group crossing the line in the following minutes, and the peloton finishing 16 minutes later.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
15 July 2019 - Saint-Flour to Albi, 217.5 km (135.1 mi)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
A five-man breakaway group went ahead from early in the stage, gaining a lead of about three and a half minutes. The intermediate sprint was won by Odd Christian Eiking from the group, with the peloton closing the lead group's advantage down to a minute and a half. With 60 km (37 mi) still to race, crosswinds began to temporarily fracture the peloton. Crosswinds happened again with 35 km (22 mi) to go, but pressure from the lead section of the broken peloton ensured that a gap was maintained.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 10
The lead section of the peloton then caught the breakaway group with 25 km (16 mi) to race, while the second and a third section were at 30 seconds and a minute's disadvantage, respectively. By the last 4 km (2.5 mi), the gaps were stretched out further. Wout van Aert then won the sprint, from the lead section of the peloton.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
17 July 2019 - Albi to Toulouse, 167 km (104 mi)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
A four-man breakaway established itself early in the stage, comprising Lilian Calmejane, Stéphane Rossetto, Anthony Perez and Aimé De Gendt. The group achieved an advantage of three and a half minutes by the Côte de Tonnac, 32 km (20 mi) into the stage. Perez won the intermediate sprint in Gaillac, with 80 km (50 mi) still to race. With 50 km (31 mi) to race, the breakaway group's advantage had been reduced to less than a minute.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 1 to Stage 11, Stage 11
A crash in the peloton happened around 31 km (19 mi) from the finish line, forcing Niki Terpstra to abandon the Tour, and requiring Nairo Quintana and Richie Porte's teammates to help their team leaders back to the peloton. De Gendt attacked from the breakaway group with 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining, achieving a 40-second gap, but De Gendt and the rest of the lead group were caught with less than 5 km (3.1 mi) from the finish. The race then finished with a bunch sprint. During the sprint, a spectator's cell phone hit the helmet of Niccolò Bonifazio, ruining his chances at a stage victory and making the Italian sprinter visibly frustrated.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21
The 2019 Tour de France was the 106th edition of Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour began in Brussels, Belgium, with a flat stage on 6 July, and Stage 12 occurred on 18 July with a mountainous stage from Toulouse. The race finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 28 July.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
18 July 2019 - Toulouse to Bagnères-de-Bigorre, 209.5 km (130 mi)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
After various attacks from the start of the race, a large breakaway group eventually established itself, achieving a lead of two minutes. From the breakaway group, Peter Sagan won the intermediate sprint at Bagnères-de-Luchon. Lilian Calmejane attacked the lead group with 70 km (43 mi) remaining in the stage, on the climb of the category 1 Col de Peyresourde to 1,569 m (5,148 ft), but was caught by Tim Wellens at the summit. Simon Clarke then went ahead, gaining a 40-second advantage on the descent.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
Matteo Trentin attacked from the breakaway group, at the beginning of the climb of the category 1 La Hourquette d'Ancizan to 1,564 m (5,131 ft), quickly catching Clarke, but with a five-man group only 15 seconds behind. Simon Yates and Gregor Mühlberger led the race over the summit, with Pello Bilbao a short distance behind. The lead group of three riders then stayed together to the finish, with Yates winning the sprint.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
19 July 2019 - Pau to Pau, 27.2 km (17 mi) (ITT)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
The riders departed at one-minute intervals from 14:00 CET, with the final 35 riders departing at two-minute intervals between 16:11 and 17:19 CET.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
Kasper Asgreen set a leading time of 35' 52", from early on. Wout van Aert was hopeful of taking the best time, before he cornered and crashed into a barrier, forcing his abandonment of the race in the last 2 km (1.2 mi). Thomas De Gendt then set a new leading time of 35' 36". Geraint Thomas then improved upon De Gendt's time, before Julian Alaphilippe bettered Thomas' result.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
20 July 2019 - Tarbes to Col du Tourmalet, 111 km (69 mi)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
A lead group of seventeen riders established a three-minute lead over the peloton, before the category 1 Col du Soulor to 1,474 m (4,836 ft). Tim Wellens, Vincenzo Nibali and Élie Gesbert led up the climb, with Wellens leading over the summit. On the approach to the hors catégorie Col du Tourmalet, Romain Sicard was at the head of the race, 30 seconds in front of Gesbert and Lilian Calmejane.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
Gesbert caught and dropped Sicard with 13 km (8.1 mi) to climb, with Gesbert himself being caught by the lead group of general classification contenders at 10 km (6.2 mi) before the finish. With 1 km (0.62 mi) remaining, Geraint Thomas got detached from the lead group containing Alaphilippe, Buchmann, Pinot, Bernal, Landa and Kruijswijk. Thibaut Pinot attacked in the final 250 m (270 yd) and held his lead to the finish, at an altitude of 2,115 m (6,939 ft), for the Souvenir Jacques Goddet.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
21 July 2019 - Limoux to Foix (Prat d'Albis), 185 km (115 mi)


2019 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
A lead group of 28 riders established itself by the Col de Montségur. The lead group was reduced to 16 riders on the climb of the Port de Lers. Simon Geschke attacked on the climb of the Mur de Péguère, with Simon Yates soon following. Yates caught Geschke at the summit, both 20 seconds ahead of the lead group. With 9 km (5.6 mi) to race, Yates attacked, holding a lead to the finish.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Rest day 2
Wilco Kelderman of Team Sunweb announced that he was abandoning the race and would not start stage 16.


2019 Tour de France, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
23 July 2019 - Nîmes to Nîmes, 177 km (110 mi)